Spirit of ALMS must continue
The American Le Mans Series is history but its spirit is living on in United SportCar's approach. GARY WATKINS explains why the ALMS caught Europe's imagination like US sportscar racing never had before
Coming up with a list of cracking American Le Mans Series races is easy. Whittling it down to the best 10 is much more difficult. Damn nigh impossible I'd say. So apologies to any driver, teams owner, engineer or mechanic who feels left out when they read my Top 10 for AUTOSPORT last week.
The short 15-season history of the ALMS provides an embarrassment of riches when it comes to classic racing. Which is why I was pulling my hair out as I put together my list of the best races ahead of the 149th and final ALMS race at Road Atlanta last weekend.
Share Or Save This Story
Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.
Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.
More from Gary Watkins
Peugeot surprised by severity of WEC Balance of Performance hit
Jota's first Le Mans car to return to competition
Why Porsche doesn't expect another WEC domination at Imola
Ferrari, Toyota receive biggest BoP breaks for WEC's Imola round
Gounon replaces Habsburg for Alpine Hypercar debut at Imola's WEC round
IMSA team boss Taylor to race ex-Scheckter Wolf F1 car at Monaco Historic
Cadillac confirms two-driver Hypercar line-up as Imola WEC entry list announced
Why Peugeot had no choice but to revamp its radical Le Mans Hypercar
Latest news
F1 Chinese GP sprint race and qualifying - Start time, how to watch & more
WRC Croatia: Neuville sets the pace to lead title rival Evans
FIA still chasing answers over bizarre Shanghai F1 grass fires
How a Shanghai to Sheffield journey paved the way for China’s F1 hero
Autosport Plus
Ranking Derek Warwick’s top 10 greatest races
Why Peugeot had no choice but to revamp its radical Le Mans Hypercar
How motorsport is embracing the opportunities of AI
The experiment WEC could revisit to magnify its boom period
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.